Tag Archives: nottingham

Good morning folks! I hope your weekend was fabulous and you got up all sorts of design delights! Today’s Design of the Day is from freelance textile and surface designer Laura Olivia. A colleague passed her brochure onto me and I was amazed with her brightly coloured designs and feminine prints. These pieces would really lift the mood of a room and add a tranquil and soothing atmosphere, especially in the bathroom or bedroom.

A former tutor at the National Design Academy in Nottingham, Laura now works for herself and supplies these beautiful bespoke designs internationally as well as a personal service in the UK. Her home range includes striking lampshades, wallpaper, cushions made from luxury fabrics and art work. Laura has also been chosen by Jethro Macy to exhibit at this years “One Year on” event at the New Designers Show in July.

Each piece of wallpaper is digitally printed on pearlescent paper and will cost you £179. Cushions and lampshades start from £65 and fabrics £50. Check Laura’s whole collection online and visit www.lauraolivia.com

We’re counting down the hours to the launch of the NDA National Design Award 2011 and tweaking every last detail so the launch goes as smoothly as possible. This competition set up by the National Design Academy in Nottingham, gives young fresh talent a chance to shine and take home a prize which will almost certainly be a spring-board for success within Interior Design.

Yesterday I posted that I couldn’t reveal too much information about the competition and I’m sure the little teasers I left you all with got some ideas flowing. Well, today I’m going to plant another teaser to get you so excited you socks will fall off! Click HERE to find out. EEEEEEEEEK….!

Congratulations to Kimberley Moore, who won MyDeco’s Mother’s Day moodboard competition and scooped a Union Jack DIGITEX roller blind and wallpaper set!

Kim, who’s a tutor at the National Design Academy in Nottingham, based her Union Jack themed mood board on the often neglected part of the home, the hallway. She chose a chic and retro “London Vibe” style, that caught the eye of voters and subsequently shot her to the top of the competition.

But, Kim isn’t going to be the only one excited about winning the prize as she plans to re-decorate her nieces bedroom into quirky teen pad as a surprise.

MyDeco Boutique are giving away a gift every week to competition winners as a way of celebrating this years mothers day. Up for grabs this week is Digitex Union Jack wallpaper and a roller blind! All you need to do is log onto MyDeco.com and design a mood board based on the two items above, and whoever gets the most votes from the public wins the prizes!

“My main inspiration for this board was retro urban chic “The London Vibe”. I envisaged that it would be a hallway, as I think this space is often neglected but is a place where you can have a bit of fun and be quirky. My niece is currently studying for her GCSE’s so if I win then I would like to give her room a surprise makeover as a treat.”

If you want to flex your creative fingertips and be in with a chance of winning some beautiful gifts for yourself or a loved one, visit www.mydeco.com and get cracking!

Click hereto vote for Kim’s mood board or to have a gander at other submissions. You do need to register to vote or design a board, it is free, so follow the site instructions then you can get started.

I’d like to say a HUGE thank you to my dear friend Abi McKenzie who’s the artist behind thedesignhub’s new headers.

She’s spent many hours working hard to give us a variety of beautiful headers which makes the site look very bright, energetic and most of all stylish. As a Nottingham born and bread designer, I wish Abs the best of luck as she moves to London to follow her dreams and become a huge success!

Well done Abs and thank you again for sprinkling your magic on thedesignhub. If you want to contact Abs McKenzie about her work or to commission, you can visit her website www.absmckenzie.co.uk

Yesterday evening, after a busy day, I went to the new Jamie’s Italian restaurant in Nottingham with a few friends. I’d been very impressed with the one in London and was curious how the Notts branch would compare – food and interior wise! I wasn’t expecting it to be on parr with London, but when I arrived I was amazed by the high ceilings, Victorian colour scheme and my favorite part – the toilets!!! Click the link to see more!

Top Tip #8

Become a freelancer as well as a business person. Write articles about subjects within your expertise and demonstrate your professional stature. This will build your professional reputation and people will link this with your business. You can contact local magazines, papers or niche publications like Dezeen and MyDeco.com. Also, many educational bodies like The National Design Academy in Nottingham, (specialists in Interior DesignDistance learning courses) commission expert writers to help develop course material for their students. This is a great opportunity to educate others and offer your industry expertise.

The modern-day professional needs their world to be highly flexible, adaptable and fast-moving. Everything needs to be done yesterday. Multi-functionalism is a business persons best friend and gadgets like the portable Kruikantoor office and Cabbage Chair, enable proceedings and meeting to be held literally anywhere! Practice Manager of National Design Academy Private Clients James Pilling, demonstrates how easy multi-functionalism is to achieve, and gives a whole new meaning to “doing business in the bedroom”. Continue reading →

Geek Chic

Geek Head design

I think mugs tell a lot about a person’s personality and are an important device often used to death in the office. So get your hands on one of these cool geek-chic mugs designed by Nottingham born artist Abbigail McKenzie and you’ll be the bees knees in the office. You can choose from the three designs to have on your mug and at just under £12 each you could buy all 3! She even designs clothing and pillows.